A McDonald's restaurant on Baseline has received several complaints after allegedly barring homeless customers from entering the restaurant last week.

McDonald's, 2920 Baseline Road, usually opens its inside dining area at 6 a.m. Yet a recorded phone call between the restaurant's manager, Manuel Lopez, and a customer named Darren O'Connor, showed that the dining area stayed closed on Thursday morning, apparently to keep out customers who appeared to be homeless.

McDonald's owner Aaron Holland said the closure was not meant to discriminate, but was only intended to give the understaffed location a chance to catch up after getting a larger-than-average crowd so early in the morning.

Yet in the recording, Lopez said the closure allowed the restaurant to cut down on customer complaints.

"We have a lot of homeless guys coming up, and if it's just a couple of them, we usually let them in because it's cold. . .when there is a lot of them, we have to do something because a lot of the customers complain about it," Lopez said in the recording.

O'Connor, who recorded the phone conversation and posted it on YouTube after learning that only the drive-through was open, said the restaurant was unfairly discriminating against the homeless.

"You are clearly discriminating against. . .our homeless community, who is coming in with money to buy food and drink, and you're closing the doors," O'Connor told Lopez in the recording.

Businesses can be put in difficult position

Homeless advocacy groups said discrimination is upsetting, but also acknowledged that limited resources can put restaurants in an awkward position.

"Businesses pick up a lot of slack for places for homeless people to be," said Isabel McDevitt, executive director of the Bridge House, a day shelter and social service agency serving the homeless. "Because we don't have comprehensive overnight and then day services, the business community takes on a role in providing shelter when it's really cold and in off hours. It has to do with our fragmented services."

Holland, who has owned the McDonald's since 1996, said the fast-food location prides itself as an "oasis" for anyone needing a warm place to eat a meal or have a cup of coffee, and the location is a common place for homeless people to stop by, especially when the weather is cold.

"Everyone is entitled to come into the restaurant. They have a right to come in and eat," he said.

The short-staffed restaurant had to keep the dining area closed

Holland said some regular early-morning customers are from BOHO, or Boulder Outreach for Homeless Overflow. BOHO offers overnight shelter at several churches and synagogues when the weather turns cold.

The restaurant has closed the dining area in the past to do repairs or to help employees complete tasks when the restaurant unexpectedly gets a bigger-than-average crowd, he said.

Yet in the recording, Lopez said customers have continually complained about homeless customers, and "it is getting worse and worse and worse."

Holland agreed that some people have complained about customers who appear homeless, but said the only time people are turned away from the restaurant is if someone — homeless or not — is acting inappropriately.

While some people complain, others support and welcome homeless customers, he said. "The homeless find that we're accommodating," he said.

'We were as surprised as anyone else'

Nancy Brinks, chair of the board for BOHO, said she had heard several BOHO guests complained about being shut out of the McDonald's on Thursday morning. Some of the guests had stayed at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church the night before, which is just down the street from the McDonald's.

Brinks said she had not previously heard any complaints about the McDonald's treatment of homeless people.

"We were as surprised as anyone else," she said. "Generally, the community is fairly understanding, especially when the weather is brutally cold, that they need a place to come in from the cold."

Joy Eckstine, a board member with BOHO who has worked with Boulder's homeless community for years, said she has heard stories on both ends of the spectrum.

"I've heard that there are places that are really kind and will let people buy a cup of coffee and sit there to get out of the cold, and I've also heard about stuff like this, where someone is discriminated against just on the basis of appearing to be homeless."

Eckstine listened to the audio recording and said she was "shocked and upset."

"It disturbed me thinking about how incredibly cold it's been," she said. "If someone scrounges together two dollars to buy a cup of coffee, being able to sit inside somewhere for an hour can be the difference between being okay and getting really sick."

At the same time, Eckstine said it underscores the broader community need for a safe warm place for homeless people to be during the day.

"There are these places where the tension grows because the purposes are not compatible or designed for both things to be happening," she said.

Judd Golden of the Boulder County chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union said private businesses have broad discretion to refuse service so long as they aren't discriminating based on race, gender or another protected class. For example, they can discourage customers who spend very little money and take up space for a very long time.

Boulder is pretty good at producing rock bands, and by "rock," we mean the in-your-face, guitar-heavy, leather-clad variety — you know, the good kind. For a prime example, look no farther than BANDITS. Full Story